Make sure he signs a waiver. No matter what. If he balks you know something is up.
I know you are making it as fair as possible but, you sound like you are in shape. He may well be also but, that little fight you suggested would be rough for a fairly in shape guy.

He has an admitted spare tire, I doubt he could keep up. Just dictate what happens when you meet. Outline the rules of course but rounds and stuff figure out as you go.

Make sure he signs a waiver. No matter what. If he balks you know something is up.
I know you are making it as fair as possible but, you sound like you are in shape. He may well be also but, that little fight you suggested would be rough for a fairly in shape guy.

In regards to being in shape, I pretty much feel like crap by the end of a session like the one I originally suggested, but I get through it each week. The grappling fatigues me the most. I had almost two years off training due to an injury, and have been training regularly again since the start of this year, when I took up judo.

Originally Posted by It is Fake

He has an admitted spare tire, I doubt he could keep up. Just dictate what happens when you meet. Outline the rules of course but rounds and stuff figure out as you go.

Is there a standard Bullshido waiver form? That would be ideal. I'm not really inclined to draft something myself.

Originally Posted by It is Fake

Also, make sure he shows you ID before he signs the waiver.

Fine by me. I can appreciate that this needs to be done - it's outside of what I'm used to in relation to meeting up with people to spar, but it all makes perfect sense. Thanks for the advice.

hmm... that's interesting. Well, I have a current first aid certificate, and I'm pretty sure Allan (the guy who owns the gym) is capable of providing first aid to me should I need it. I'm not intending on throwing any heavy leather myself. Light striking at a medium pace, and as for the grappling, I'll just work guard for starters and see how he goes.

The way I'm looking at it, Monk has made a claim as to his ability, and I am giving him an opportunity to demonstrate it. That shouldn't require him to try and knock me out to prove a point.

How about one boxing, one kickboxing, one MMA, and one grappling round, followed by however many rounds of whatever else he feels like doing?

edit: maybe I should watch these sparring videos and see what I'm getting myself into.

I think your earlier idea of a couple of rounds of each would probably be better. Working with someone new sometimes takes more than a round to get in your "groove". Just my take on things though.

Hey Deadmeat, I may have missed it in this thread, but what's your martial arts background? Just to put things in perspective for us casual Bullshido viewers. :)

In a nutshell, I dabbled in Shotokan Karate (My father is an old-school Shotokan guy who trained in Yugoslavia during the 50's/60's) and boxing intermittently until late 98. Trained consistently and regularly in MMA at a well known and accomplished MMA school (Shin Do) from early 2000 until late 2004. Started sparring again around the end of 2006, and took up judo at the very beginning of 2007. I hold a Blue Belt in Shin Do (which is basically submission wrestling/no gi jj and Muay Thai), and am currently a lowly Yellow belt in Kodokan Judo under Wayne Matheson of the Judo Federation of Australia. I do ten rounds of sparring with a Muay Thai guy (former Strikeforce/Final Contact gym), who is now taking BJJ under Daniel Lima.

Incidently, in Shin Do, there are no new techniques after greenbelt. Blue Brown and Black Belts are awarded through proven ability to execute the core techniques of the style in intense gradings consisting of 10, 15, and 20 round MMA-style bouts respectively. I was due to grade for my Brown Belt when I left Shin Do, but wasn't able to train enough to meet the required fitness standard after popping my floating rib.

In a nutshell, I dabbled in Shotokan Karate (My father is an old-school Shotokan guy who trained in Yugoslavia during the 50's/60's) and boxing intermittently until late 98. Trained consistently and regularly in MMA at a well known and accomplished MMA school (Shin Do) from early 2000 until late 2004. Started sparring again around the end of 2006, and took up judo at the very beginning of 2007. I hold a Blue Belt in Shin Do (which is basically submission wrestling/no gi jj and Muay Thai), and am currently a lowly Yellow belt in Kodokan Judo under Wayne Matheson of the Judo Federation of Australia. I do ten rounds of sparring with a Muay Thai guy (former Strikeforce/Final Contact gym), who is now taking BJJ under Daniel Lima.

Incidently, in Shin Do, there are no new techniques after greenbelt. Blue Brown and Black Belts are awarded through proven ability to execute the core techniques of the style in intense gradings consisting of 10, 15, and 20 round MMA-style bouts respectively. I was due to grade for my Brown Belt when I left Shin Do, but wasn't able to train enough to meet the required fitness standard after popping my floating rib.

That was a great introductory post! Sounds like you have a really good training regime. As a recent Yankee transplant to Oz I'm having fun discovering the martial arts scene here. I'm pretty new to this, bout a year of boxing, kickboxing and grappling, but I really love the workout and atmosphere that you get in good gyms.

Anyways, back on topic, it sounds like you've got a good sparring session lined up. If you guys could video tape it that would be cool.

The Bullshido Bullies I met up with on the 4th of August in Sydney are probably going to be doing a regular meetup at Larry Papadopoulos' gym "Boxing Works". You should get in touch with Lilly, Arhetton, or Born Sceptic. They are all very nice and sensible in their training approach. Also, it's worth going just to meet Larry Papadopoulos - he's world famous.